Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
M oon’s eyes flicked open, instantly becoming awake. Groaning, he rolled over onto his stomach. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep the way his aching body was crying out for. Instead, he rolled back over onto his back, knowing it was useless.
For some aggravating reason, he had never been able to sleep longer than five hours, regardless of how exhausted he was. Once his eyes were open, he was up for the whole stinking day.
He released another irritated groan and sat up on the side of the bed, lazily rubbing his stomach. Damn, he was getting too old to drink like he had last night.
The sight of his crumpled jeans and T-shirt lying on the floor brought back vague memories of the night before. Fuck, he had drunk so much that the sexual encounter seemed more like a figment of his imagination rather than one that actually happened. If not for the pale ivory panties on the floor, Moon would have chalked it up to a horny wet dream. The images in his mind were more like a kaleidoscope of parts of the night.
He rose from the bed and gave a long stretch, extending his arms upward while twisting his back to the left then right as he pondered last night. He was pretty sure he owed Echo an apology. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he might have confused her with Ember when she had come into his room.
He pulled a pair of shorts out of his drawer, then left his room to go the bathroom down the hall. In the shower, he rinsed off before he washed his hair. Done, he stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his hips while heading to the sink to brush his teeth.
When he casually glanced into the mirror, he stopped brushing. Narrowing his eyes on his neck, he spotted something that better not be what he thought it was.
He spit out the toothpaste and cupped his hands to fill them with water so he could rinse out his mouth before letting his fingertips investigate the red spot of color on his neck.
Echo had given him a hickey. A fucking hickey. He hated them. The sight of one on his neck infuriated him. That showed just how fucking drunk he had been last night.
After he apologized to Echo, he was going to make fucking sure she knew he wasn’t happy about it. All the women in the club knew hickeys were his pet peeves. Echo was the first one to have been given him one, and she was going to be the last.
Irritable, Moon opened the medicine cabinet in the search for the Tylenol. However, he came up short when it wasn’t in its usual spot.
Snapping the door closed, he gritted his teeth. The day was off to a wonderful fucking start.
As he left the bathroom with the towel wrapped around his hips, the smell of bacon put him in a better mood. He dressed in fresh jeans and a T-shirt before combing his hair, then put the jeans from the floor in his hamper and picked up the cream panties, laying them on top of the closed hamper. He would tell Echo at breakfast where she could find them.
A flash of a memory of Echo getting dressed in the dark and not turning the light on came to him as he was heading down the steps. Had Echo been acting weird, or was he just thinking that because he had been so out of it?
Fuck if he knew.
When he pushed the door to the kitchen open, he only found Puck and Jesus inside. Both were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee with a big plate in front of them.
“You fuckers have better saved me some food,” he warned, moving to the counter, where he found enough to make himself a couple of plates.
Shoving a slice of bacon into his mouth, Puck commented to Jesus, “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
After piling his plate high, Moon set his plate on the table before going to the refrigerator to pour himself a glass of orange juice. Back at the table, he sat down and started eating.
Taking a sip of his coffee, he glanced across the table to see Puck and Jesus staring at him. “What?”
“You could’ve asked if everyone has eaten yet,” Puck replied drily.
Moon shrugged. “You can make more if they haven’t.”
“I don’t want to spend all day in this kitchen,” Jesus complained.
Chewing on a piece of bacon, he shrugged again. “It doesn’t bother you when I’m the one doing kitchen duty.”
Jesus stared at him in consideration. Then, chagrined at being called out, the brother resumed eating while throwing him dirty looks.
Spreading jelly on his toast, Puck changed the subject, seeing how well Jesus had fared at trying to make him feel bad about taking so much food. “You get up to anything good last night?”
“No.” Moon gave a huff of irritation while pouring an excessive amount of sugar into his coffee. “This town is lame as fuck during Christmas.”
“It’s lame as fuck whatever the time of year,” Puck replied, getting up to refill his coffee mug.
“I like it,” Jesus gave his two cents. “At least I have a room here, and Viper doesn’t hound me to divvy up to pay for what I drink. Wizard is a stingy bastard.”
Moon had to agree with Jesus but didn’t say it out loud. Puck or Jesus would forget that they had been the ones originally complaining about Wizard and tattle for bad-mouthing him.
Puck sat back down and stared at him curiously. “Heard the women went at it last night at Mick’s.”
“Wasn’t much to it. It was over before it started. The best part was Crazy Bitch smashing into the door.”
“I’m glad I didn’t bother to get my ass out of bed, then, when Echo told me the women were going to make sure they had Jewell’s back.”
Moon sat back in his chair, finally full. “Echo didn’t want to tag along?”
Puck gave him a satisfied grin. “She tried. I changed her mind. Jewell had enough women to take her back. I needed someone to massage mine. Have you asked her for a massage yet? If not, you’re missing out.”
Moon felt an unexpected jab of jealously. The emotion was so new he thought it was indigestion at first. He realized it was jealousy when he wanted to smash Puck in the face with his plate. “Her foot rub is nothing to sneeze about, either.”
“Oo…” Puck’s grin widened. “Guess what Echo will be doing tonight.”
“Not if I snag her first again.” Moon didn’t know why he wanted to put a wrench in Puck’s plans. He was still pissed about the hickey. Why did he give a fuck if Echo gave Puck a foot massage?
Puck gave him a confused frown. “When were you with Echo last night? We watched movies when I got back from Rachel’s house. We stayed in my room the whole night. You mean this morning after I came down to start breakfast at six?” Puck nodded his head, as if he had answered his own question.
Moon frowned. “Echo was with you the whole night? Bro, I got news for you; she must have snuck away when you were sleeping because she came to my room in the middle of the night.”
“Why would she have to sneak? If she wanted to go to your room, all she had to do was tell me.”
Puck was right. She wouldn’t have had to sneak into his room without telling Puck. The brothers were never jealous over which woman slept where unless they were claimed. Echo wasn’t claimed. Hell, he didn’t know why he was making a big deal out of it, anyway.
“Never mind. I could be wrong.”
Puck and Jesus stared at him strangely.
“You good, bro?”
“Of course.” That was the last time he got so wasted he mind-fucked himself.
“Cool.” Puck stood up, his eyes traveling up from the table toward him.
Moon’s lips tightened ominously when Puck sat back down and started laughing.
“Brah, is that a fucking hickey?”
“ C an I get you anything?”
Using the heel of her good foot, Larissa turned, shuffling until she managed to back up until she felt the bed behind her. Pulling the crutches out from under her, she sat down on the bed. “A bottle of water, please.”
“No problem. Lana, bring her a bottle of water when you bring the pillow,” Priscilla yelled out.
Larissa gave her sister an exasperated look. “I could have yelled at Lana to bring me the water if I wanted to wake the whole apartment complex.”
Priscilla gave her an unrepentant grin. “Sorry about that. Old habits are hard to break. Here, let me help you put your foot on the bed.”
Larissa stopped her before she could bend down. “I need to go to the bathroom first.”
“It would have been simpler if you had gone to the bathroom before sitting down.”
“I thought of that, but I needed to rest. Those crutches hurt.” Larissa hated that her voice sounded so weepy, but darn it, her foot hurt.
“What’s wrong?” Lana asked, walking into the room. “Why’s she crying?”
“I don’t know.” Confused, Priscilla sat down next to Larissa and started rubbing her back. “I just asked her why she didn’t go to the bathroom before she sat down.”
“What did she say?”
“I’m right here,” Larissa reminded them. “I told her the crutches hurt.”
Lana sat down next to her on her other side, taking her hand. “You’ll get used to them,” she soothed. “How’s the pain?”
“Not too bad.”
“Let’s get you to the bathroom, and then we’ll get you settled in bed. You’ll feel much better after you get some sleep. I’ve scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic tomorrow. Once you get the temporary cast off, you’ll be able to manage easier with a boot. I’ll even spring a scooter for you, so you don’t have to deal with the crutches.”
Larissa had to sniffle back tears at how sweet Lana was being to her. “Can I have some tissues?”
“Of course.” Lana reached out to pluck several tissues from the box on the nightstand.
Her sister waited until she blew her nose before both of them helped her hop into the bathroom. Leaving her on the toilet, they left her alone, closing the door after them. When she was done, she used the side of the sink to lift herself to her good foot, then held on to the sink as she stared at herself.
She was wearing two hospital gowns, both turned in opposite directions. Taking one of her sister’s hair scrunchies, Larissa pulled her hair into a ponytail. Seeing herself in the mirror reminded her of doing the same thing several hours before. She covered her face with both hands and burst into tears.
“Hey!” Lana yelled, startling her. “Why are you crying?”
Unaware that her sisters had opened the door, Larissa dropped her hands to find them staring at her in dismay. “You could have knocked.” Brushing her tears away, she tried to distract them from what she had been doing.
Priscilla and Lana frowned heavily at her. Then Lana moved from the doorway to place a hand around her waist. “Help me get her to bed, Priscilla.”
Larissa let her sisters get her situated back on the bed, in a nightgown. Once she was sitting up against the headboard, and Priscilla had spread a comforter over her, Lana sat down next to her, retaking her hand.
“What’s going on, Larissa? You’ve been acting weird since we left The Last Riders’ clubhouse.”
“It’s just the pain. I’ll be okay when the pain meds kick in.” Larissa turned her face away from Lana’s discerning gaze.
“Bullshit. I’ve seen you in much worse pain than this, and you never cried as if the sky was falling. Besides, you were acting weird before then. You ran down those steps as if the devil was chasing you.”
Priscilla sat at the foot of the bed, careful not to touch her injured foot while listening with a concerned expression.
“Can you blame me with the way Winter had us sneaking in and out of the club? I’ve never been around bikers before. I don’t know what they’re capable of …”
Lana paled. “I would have never accepted Winter’s invitation if I had thought you or Priscilla weren’t safe.”
Larissa burst into tears again, feeling terrible about how Lana was taking blame for the way she was acting.
Lana scooted forward and wrapped her arms around her.
“Don’t be nice to me. I don’t deserve it!” she bawled out, covering her face with her hands.
Lana took her by the wrists and lowered her hands. “Stop it, Larissa, right now. You’re scaring me. Something happened while you were there, and I want to know what it was—right now.”
“Nothing … happened,” she stuttered out.
“Don’t lie to me.” She firmly reached for the cell phone on the nightstand. “The only time you were out of my sight was when Priscilla told me you had gone upstairs to use the restroom while I was in the one downstairs.”
“That was the only time she was out of my eyesight, too,” Priscilla agreed.
“So, something must have happened upstairs. What was it? Tell me, or I’m going to call Winter and ask her.”
Larissa knew Lana would do exactly what she threatened.
“You’re going to hate me,” she warned.
“I could never hate you—you’re my sister. I love you, and nothing you say or have done could ever change my feelings for you.”
“I broke our golden rule,” she confessed.
“Shit,” Priscillia muttered from the bottom of the bed.
“Shut up, Priss,” Lana ordered, turning her head to glare at their baby sister before turning back to her again. “You couldn’t have broken the golden rule because I’m not dating anyone.”
“No, but you wanted to.” She gave a sobbing breath.
Lana’s confused expression cleared. “You mean Moon?”
She couldn’t help it; she broke into hysterical laughter.
“She’s lost her marbles …” Priscillia’s frightened voice brought her back from La-La-Land.
“That’s … his … name?” she managed through hiccupping sobs.
“I’d say that’s his biker nickname,” Priscilla replied, as if she were some sort of expert. “Is he why you lose it every time you hear Moon’s name?”
“Yes, that’s a ridiculous name. I mean, really … who calls themselves Moon?” Her voice rose higher with each word she spoke.
“She’s going to lose it again.”
Lana turned around to glare at Priscilla. “Will you please nip it?” she snapped. “I’m trying to find out what’s happened, and you’re not helping.”
“Sorry,” Priscilla apologized. “I’ll be quiet.”
Both she and Lana stared at her.
Lana rocked her head back and forth in a huff.
“Well, I will.”
“God help me.” Lana reached for the extra pillow then smacked Priscilla with it. “You’re going to make me lose my medical license because I’m about to strangle your ass. You say one more word, and I’m going to put honey on your hairbrush.”
Priscilla didn’t say a word, but Larissa could tell she wanted to.
“Try me,” Lana warned.
When she didn’t hear a peep, Lana focused back on her. “Let’s start over. Why do you think you broke our golden rule? Did you kiss Moon upstairs? Is that what all this is about?”
Their golden rule was to never to kiss one of their sisters’ boyfriends, regardless of if they were an ex or currently in a relationship.
Larissa rested her head on the headboard, tears streaking down her cheeks. “I did more than kiss the man.”